Install Passbolt Pro on Debian 11 (Bullseye)

Prerequisites

For this tutorial, you will need:

• A minimal Debian 11 server.

• A domain / host name pointing to your server, or at least being able to reach your server through a static IP address.
• a working SMTP server for email notifications
• a working NTP service to avoid GPG authentication issues

The recommended server requirements are:

• 2 cores
• 2GB of RAM

FAQ pages:

• Firewall rules
• Considerations about entropy

Package repository setup

For easier installation and update tasks Passbolt provides a package repository that you need to setup before you download Passbolt PRO and install it.

Step 1. Download our dependencies installation script:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/passbolt/passbolt-dep-scripts/main/passbolt-repo-setup.pro.sh

Step 2. Ensure that the script is valid and execute it:

[ "$(sha256sum passbolt-repo-setup.pro.sh | awk '{print $1}')" = "0119e165a356ccef22b0fcf5cb231c827c595dc94a994604bfc6073e27716ba3" ] && sudo bash ./passbolt-repo-setup.pro.sh || echo "Bad checksum. Aborting" && rm -f passbolt-repo-setup.pro.sh

Install passbolt official linux package

sudo apt install passbolt-pro-server

Configure mariadb

If not instructed otherwise passbolt debian package will install mariadb-server locally. This step will help you create an empty mariadb database for passbolt to use.

fig. Configure database dialog

The configuration process will ask you for the credentials of the mariadb admin user to create a new database. By default in most installations the admin username would be root and the password would be empty.

fig. Database admin user dialog

fig. Database admin user pass dialog

Now we need to create a mariadb user with reduced permissions for passbolt to connect. These values will also be requested later on the webconfiguration tool of passbolt so please keep them in mind.

fig. Database passbolt user dialog

fig. Database passbolt user pass dialog

Lastly we need to create a database for passbolt to use, for that we need to name it:

fig. Database name dialog

Configure nginx for serving HTTPS

Depending on your needs there are two different options to setup nginx and SSL using the Debian package:

• Auto (Using Let’s Encrypt)
• Manual (Using user-provided SSL certificates)

2. Configure passbolt

Before you can use the application, you need to configure it. Point your browser to the hostname / ip where passbolt can be reached. You will reach a getting started page.

fig. passbolt welcome page before configuration

2.1. Healthcheck

The first page of the wizard will tell you if your environment is ready for passbolt. Solve issues if any and click on “Start configuration” when ready.

fig. wizard - healthcheck

2.2. Subscription key

At this step, the wizard will ask you for your subscription key. You should have received it by email soon after your online purchase. Enter it in the box.

fig. wizard - subscription key

2.3. Database

This step is about telling passbolt which database to use. Enter the host name, port number, database name, username and password.

fig. wizard - database

2.4. GPG key

In this section you can either generate or import a GPG key pair. This key pair will be used by passbolt API to authenticate itself during the login handshake process.

Generate a key if you don’t have one.

fig. wizard - generate a key pair

Optional: Import a key if you already have one and you want your server to use it.

To create a new GnuPG key without passphrase:

gpg --batch --no-tty --gen-key <<EOF
  Key-Type: default
  Key-Length: 2048
  Subkey-Type: default
  Subkey-Length: 2048
  Name-Real: John Doe
  Name-Email: [email protected]
  Expire-Date: 0
  %no-protection
  %commit
EOF

Feel free to replace Name-Real and Name-Email with your own.

To display your new key:

gpg --armor --export-secret-keys [email protected]

fig. wizard - import a key pair

2.5. Mail server (SMTP)

At this stage, the wizard will ask you to enter the details of your SMTP server.

fig. wizard - smtp mail server details

You can also test that your configuration is correct by using the test email feature at the right of your screen. Enter the email address at which you want the wizard to send you a test email and click on “Send test email”.

fig. wizard - test smtp settings

2.6. Preferences

The wizard will then ask you what preferences you prefer for your instance of passbolt. The recommended defaults are already pre-populated but you can also change them if you know what you are doing.

fig. wizard - preferences

2.7. First user creation

You need to create the first admin user account. This first admin user is probably you, so enter your details and click on next.

fig. wizard - first user

2.8. Installation

That’s it. The wizard has now enough information to proceed with the configuration of passbolt. Sit back and relax for a few seconds while the configuration process is going on.

fig. wizard - installation

Your user account is now created. You will see a redirection page for a few second and then will be redirected to the user setup process so that you can configure your user account.

fig. wizard - completion and redirection

3. Configure your administrator account

3.1. Download the plugin

Before continuing passbolt will require you to download its plugin. If you already have it installed you can go to the next step.

fig. download the browser extension

3.2. Create a new key

Passbolt will ask you to create or import a key that will be later use to identify you and encrypt your passwords. Your key needs to be protected by a password. Choose it wisely, it will be the gatekeeper to all your other passwords.

fig. generate a key

3.3. Download your recovery kit

This step is essential. Your key is the only way to access your account and passwords. If you lose this key (by breaking or losing your computer and not having a backup for example), your encrypted data will be lost even if you remember your passphrase.

fig. download the recovery kit

3.4. Define your security token

Choosing a color and a three characters token is a secondary security mechanism that helps you to mitigate phishing attacks. Each time you are performing a sensitive operation on passbolt, you should see this token.

fig. define your security token

3.5. That’s it!

Your administrator account is configured. You will be redirected to the login page of passbolt. Enjoy!